Mount Saint Joseph Catholic High School

Geography
Third Form
CLIMATE CHANGE CASE STUDIES
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The effects of Climate Change have forced countries around the world to develop
strategies to deal with new challenges related to climatic elements.

Read the following cases and answer the questions that follow.

#1: Climate change and the insurance industry

Here are three examples from the United States and abroad of how the insurance
industry is responding to climate change. Please read these examples—then visit
the “insurance industry” questions and write your answers below the questions.

● From April 25-28, 2011, over 350 tornadoes swept across the Southern,
Midwestern, and Northeastern United States. Alabama was hit particularly
hard by the tornado outbreak, with over 200 fatalities and insured losses of
over $4 billion. Soon after the tornadoes, Alfa Insurance Company announced
that it would not be renewing 73,000 property insurance policies. Most of
these cancelled policies were for landlord-owned rental properties, but
policies for owner-occupied houses and mobile homes were also cancelled.
The president of the company stated, “While Alfa remains a financially strong
insurance company, the increased frequency and severity of storms over the
last decade have highlighted the need for Alfa to review its overall property
portfolio. Our top priority is serving our policyholders. We have a
responsibility to manage the company in order to effectively deliver on Alfa’s
promise to its customers.”

● In 2010, State Farm Florida insurance company cancelled 125,000 insurance

policies. Most of these policy cancellations involved properties in areas
vulnerable to hurricanes. State Farm Florida stated that they were losing $20
million/month and that the cancellations would help “stem State Farm
Florida’s deteriorating financial condition.”

● Swiss Re insurance, Oxfam America, and other partners started HARITA

(Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation), a weather insurance program,
in 2008 in Ethiopia. Roughly 85% of Ethiopians make their living by farming
—the staple crop is a cereal called teff—but because of phenomena such as
increased drought, many small farms in Ethiopia are struggling. Some
farmers pay their insurance premiums in cash, but the program also allows
poorer farmers to pay their premiums in labor—for example, helping with
community tree planting projects. HARITA also requires farmers to take risk-
reducing measures such as growing heat-tolerant crops, scheduling planting
dates based on past precipitation data, and making compost to use in their
 fields to increase soil productivity. Finally, each community elects five people
to work with the insurance companies on how to improve the insurance
package. HARITA participants increased from 200 households in 2008 to
13,000 households in 2010.

Questions

1. In these case studies, how is the response of the US insurance industry (Alfa
and State Farm Florida) different from the HARITA partners?
2. Why do you think that HARITA has responded so differently to weather and
climate-related insurance issues than Alfa and State Farm Florida have
responded?
3. How, if at all, is the Alfa and State Farm Florida response an effective climate
change adaptation strategy?
4. How, if at all, is the HARITA response an effective climate change adaptation
strategy?
5. Which response—Alfa and State Farm Florida OR HARITA—do you believe is a
more effective climate change adaptation strategy?
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#2: Adaptation to extreme heat waves
Here are three examples of how the major urban centers of Chicago and New
York City, as well as Wangaratta (a city in southwest Australia with fewer than
30,000 people) are adapting to heat waves. Please read these examples—then,
with your group, visit the “heat wave” questions and write your answers below
the questions.

● One of the components of Chicago’s ongoing Climate Action Plan involves

identifying which parts of the city are “urban hot spots”—in other words,
areas in the city that experience the greatest (top 10%) surface temperatures
during the day and/or night. The map below illustrates these areas. City
studies of urban hot spots revealed that many of the urban hot spots
corresponded to areas in the city that had the least tree cover. In 1989,
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley piloted the Green Streets Initiative to increase
the city’s urban tree cover. Since 1991, Chicago has planted over 600,000
trees, with an additional 1,000,000 trees to be planted by 2020.

● “Cool roofs” are designed to reflect more sunlight than traditional roofs and
can be made of a variety of materials including reflective tiles, reflective
shingles called cool asphalt shingles, and spray polyurethane foam. In
addition, existing roofs can be transformed into cool roofs by applying
 coatings of reflective paint, reflective marble chips, or a protective sheet.
New York City’s °CoolRoofs program encourages building owners to coat the
top of their flat roofs with cool roof coating, a white membrane. Nearby, the
Long Island Power Authority offers rebates for certain buildings that install
new cool roofs or upgrade an existing roof into a cool roof.

● The “Rural City of Wangaratta” in Australia developed a Heatwave Response

Plan in 2009. While the plan includes long-term responses to heat waves
similar to programs in Chicago and New York, it also includes a short-term
response plan that is implemented during heat waves. This plan includes
extending the hours of operation of areas in which people can seek relief,
such as air-conditioned community centers and swimming pools; suspending
utility shut-offs for non-payment during heat waves; and establishing a
community register. A community register is a list of residents (names,
contact information, next of kin, and medical information) who are
vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and/or socially isolated. People on the
community register may choose to receive phone calls from volunteers or the
police to check on their well-being during heat waves.

Questions

1. Name one benefit of installing a cool roof.

2. Uncertainty related to climate change means that many cities may need to adapt
to increased climate variability. How do projects like the Green Streets Initiative
have the potential to help cities adapt to both heat waves and flooding?
3. What are some of the differences between adapting to heat waves in a major
metropolitan area like New York City vs. a smaller city like Wangaratta? In which
type of settlement do you think that adaptation to heat waves would be more
challenging? Why?
4. Which, if any, of these adaptations to heat waves would be feasible where you
live?
#3: Adaptation to flood hazards
Increased flood hazards are becoming a reality for many parts of the United States,
whether the floods are related to increased precipitation, hurricane storm surges, or
sea level rises.

The Netherlands (see location maps on the next page) is a low-lying country in
which roughly 9 million (out of the 16.5 million total population) people are living
below sea level (Aerts, 2009). Because of its proximity to the North Sea and the
presence of the Rhine River, the Netherlands faces flood-related hazards from sea
level rise, storm surges, increased precipitation, and melting of European glaciers
that feed the Rhine.

Here are two examples of how the Netherlands is adapting to flood hazards. Please
read the examples—then, with your group, visit the “flood” questions and write
your answers below the questions.
● Much like New Orleans, LA, areas in the Netherlands that lie below sea level
have been turned into usable land by pumping water out of the low-lying
areas. In rural areas in the Netherlands, a low-lying area that has been
drained and is now being used for farmland is called a polder. Hundreds of
years ago when the polders were drained, mounds of packed earth that, in
the Netherlands, are called dikes, (in the United States, these are referred to
as “earthen levees”) were built to protect the polders from flooding. The
Dutch government started a program in 2006 called Room for the River that
involves changing the existing landscape and flood infrastructure to give
rivers more room to flow. This involves excavating (digging) to lower the
elevations of floodplains; excavating the bottom of the river bed in order to
make it deeper; shifting dikes’ positions and expanding the size of the
floodplain; removing dikes and allowing the river to flood polders; removing
obstacles like bridges that can interfere with river flow; and in densely
populated areas, repairing and fortifying existing dikes. Descriptions of these
changes are shown on the next pages. As the rivers are widened, some land
that is currently occupied will be used to give the river more room, which
will involve “selective relocation”. Some farmers like Jacques Broekmans,
whose land lies within the polders, are being compensated for their land and
relocated. In addition, the Dutch government has decided that some areas in
an eastern city called Nijmegen through which the Rhine River flows, will be
allowed to flood in order to protect more densely populated areas further
downstream.

● Cities in the Netherlands are engaging in a variety of projects to adapt to

increased flood hazards. In many cities, parking garages that are currently
under construction must be built to double as drainage systems and fill with
water during floods. Amsterdam, the capital city, is also building floating
communities such as Ijburg and Maasbommel to allow houses to withstand
floods without being damaged. The houses are made of wood, glass, and
 synthetic materials. Some are built on concrete tanks stationed in the water,
while others are built on “floating foundations”, concrete boxes filled with
plastic foam that serve as stable platforms. Docks serve as walkways and
contain electric and sewage infrastructure within them. If flooding occurs,
the houses rise with the floodwaters without being damaged.

Questions

1. How does the Dutch strategy for adapting to climate change-related flooding
differ from flood adaptation strategies in the United States? Which country's
strategy do you believe is more effective?
2. How has the Dutch government differed in its approach to adaptation in rural
areas compared to adaptation in urban areas?
3. How do you feel about the Dutch government relocating individuals like
Jacques Broekmans, whose land lies in a designated flood zone, and widening
areas along the Rhine River, allowing some communities to flood?
4. The Netherlands is a wealthy, industrialized country. Which of their
adaptations would be feasible in poorer, developing countries? Which of
their adaptations would not?